July 11, 2015

Draco sat on the couch in Dudley's living room with a can of beer in his hand. He was watching the soccer game with very little interest. Dudley had invited him over for a day of respite from his efforts helping his mother and the family elves take care of his father. Lucius' injuries had been severe enough to keep him in St. Mungo's for a few days. Narcissa hadn't left his side. Draco himself had stayed for the first two days his father had been there once Tori and Scorpius were safely ensconced in the Greengrass family residence. That had been two weeks ago. Now Lucius was home and Draco had spent nearly the entire last week and a half sleeping in his childhood bedroom.

Dudley looked over at his friend, who had just missed the goal his favorite team had scored, and sighed. He had no idea how to get Draco out of his funk. His brilliant idea of beer and football seemed to be a spectacular failure. Scorpius and Tori hadn't even managed to get him out of it earlier. So much for the masculine approach. Time for the feelings-bit.

"Draco." Dudley snorted when the blond man didn't even stir. "Draco!"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, great play." Draco started and looked over at Dudley, who smirked.

"I didn't ask you about a play."

"Oh, well."

Dudley leaned forward and put his beer on the coffee table. "Gonna talk about it?"

Draco grimaced. "What is there to talk about?"

"You forget. I helped out with my father's care, too."

Draco sighed and put the nearly untouched can next to Dudley's. "He's starting to get antsy. He wants to move around more than he should now. He's being a right git to the elves again, so I guess that means he's getting back to normal." Draco shrugged. "Mum is happier with his progress."

"When did the healers say he'd be up and around completely?"

"A few days." Draco snorted. "He's walking around on the cane pretty decently. He just gets tired quickly. Macmillan said he's probably never going to be back to his original state of health."

Dudley nodded, "Sorta like how Dad was-" Dudley cut off in the middle of his sentence when the Floo tones sounded. Draco and Dudley looked over at the empty fireplace. Even though the Dursleys had limited connections, Draco put his hand in his pocket and gripped the handle of his wand. He had been jumpy for the last two weeks.

The fireplace erupted with green fire and they saw Harry's head shape itself in the fire. "Dudley, you there?"

"Yeah, Harry. Draco too."

"Perfect. Mind if I come through?"

Dudley shrugged, then realized Harry probably couldn't see it and answered, "Sure, Harry. Join the fun." Draco snorted.

Harry's head disappeared for a moment and then he appeared suddenly in the fireplace. The fire went out and Harry brushed himself off on the brick area around the fireplace Dudley and Annie had installed to prevent the soot from staining their carpet. He smiled grimly as he looked up, "Hey."

"Harry." "Potter." Dudley and Draco didn't bother getting up from the couch as they greeted Harry. They were both comfortable and besides, it was only Harry. "There's beer in the fridge."

"Thanks." Harry trudged a bit out of the room as Draco and Dudley just looked at each other. They weren't sure what Harry wanted but it certainly had to do with the happenings two weeks ago. He looked tired. When he returned with his drink in hand, he sort of phlumped into the wing chair across from the couch. He exhaled heavily.

"Alright, Harry?"

Harry's mouth quirked to one side. "Oh, sure. These last two weeks have been a sheer joy for everyone." He shook his head. "Malfoy, I was just at your parents'. The Minister and the Wizangamot have agreed to a modification of the wards. They won't be open to just any Auror anymore. We've all agreed on four and the Minister himself."

Draco nodded. "Good. I never liked the idea that anyone could get through the wards. If Williamson hadn't been able to get in, my father wouldn't be recovering from almost being killed. Who are the Aurors? You and Weasley are two, of course."

"Wrong." Harry took a drink of his beer as the two men either lifted eyebrows or tilted his head at him. "Ron is retiring from being an Auror. He's had enough. I am one, yes, and your father really loved that." Harry rolled his eyes. "Also, Seamus, Dalton Cole, and Maggie Bishop."

"I'm not familiar with Cole or Bishop."

"Cole is about five years younger than us. Pretty level-headed and never really dealt with Williamson, Shakeshaft, or Gladstone. He was pretty much out of the War anyway, so he really has no beef with the Malfoys. Bishop is your parents' age. She was actually a Slytherin, too. She's one of the few people who could beat Ron at chess. Maggie does more training than fieldwork now, but I trust her to be able to get through to your parents and be able to protect them if necessary. Hopefully, we won't have to go through any of this again."

"So, what precisely did happen? We were sent back home without much explanation." Dudley replied.

"That's why I'm here. We've gotten everyone involved." Harry sighed. "I wanted to let you know what happened after Williamson took Gladstone.

"He brought her to his cousin, a Muggle surgeon. Apparently, this cousin of his had lost his license to practice but has a fully stocked operating theater in his basement. The MLE is working with the Muggles to figure out why he has that laboratory. Honestly, it's something I don't want to dwell upon. Anyway, the cousin was unable to save Missus Gladstone. We got there a short timeafter he had left with her.

"Williamson brought her to the graveyard her family is buried and actually took the time to bury her with her husband. We didn't know that at first. It came out after he was questioned.

"Anyway, Williamson decided to go after your parents before he went after you, Tori, and Scorpius. By the time we figured it out, he was already attacking them. When we stepped in, your mother was holding him off, but your father had already been hit by the curse."

Draco interrupted Harry, "So, will he get a wand back?"

Harry shrugged. "The higher-ups are still arguing that one, Malfoy."

"But what do you think about it, Potter?" Draco leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

Harry sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. From a defensive standpoint, yes, he needs one if he's being attacked. From the standpoint of his past crimes, the question remains has he rehabilitated enough that he won't use it against someone not pure-blood if he feels like it?"

Draco's mouth twisted. "Good points, both, but Mother and I were able to keep them."

"You and your mother didn't commit the same crimes your father did. Also, frankly, neither of you are as blatantly prejudiced and purely annoying as your father."

Neither man said anything for a moment. There was a minefield in front of them neither wanted to step into. Dudley cleared his throat. "What happened after that?"

"Williamson used a spell that was worse than Sectumsempra on two of my Aurors." Draco flinched as Harry grimaced at him. "This one apparently opens gashes all through the body that continue even as the healers work on them. We managed to knock out Williamson and your mother and the two of us got your father, Ron, and Tammy to St. Mungo's. Your mother told us what the spell was and how the healers could treat it.

"Tammy and Ron were taken into surgery right away. They worked hard but Tammy didn't make it. Ron did, by the skin of his teeth." Harry looked at the can in his hand and found part of his mind focusing on how cool it felt in his hand. The past two weeks had been hectic and had given him and the others very little time to breathe, let alone sit and actually let things settle. He grimaced as a thought hit him. "Draco, you might get a visit from Rita Skeeter. She's gotten wind of the events and is poking around."

Draco snorted. "Annoying woman, but one hell of an investigator."

"Especially when she has someone feeding her information," Harry glared balefully at Draco for a moment, who grinned unabashedly back at him. Dudley looked between the two.

"Did I miss something?"

Draco chuckled, "Just keep an eye out for a really big beetle with eye-markings like glasses. It might be a reporter Potter and I know. She's a witch who can change into a beetle, sneak around, and listen in to conversations."

"She writes for the Prophet, like Ginny. She's relentless. I would admire her skills if she didn't have a tendency to report things wrong. She gets half of a story and makes up the rest to suit her angle. Or her mood." Harry shook his head. "Anyway, we were trying to control how much got released to the press until it was all over but Skeeter has her sources in the Wizangamot and is starting to sniff around."

"I'm surprised it hasn't leaked already, Harry. It tends to be hard to keep stuff like this out of the press. Your Auror went rogue and killed another Auror." Dudley leaned forward.

"Kingsley will be feeding me to the sharks tomorrow. I get to give a press conference that announces what happened. Fun, fun." Harry grinned sardonically. "If you two want a good laugh, be at the Ministry tomorrow around Noon. The reporters love getting to interrogate me."

"What will you tell them?" Draco propped his head on his hand, his elbow supported by the couch arm. He was tired. It was good to know that the culprits were in custody but he just felt drained by everything. When would he finally have his penance paid for the mistakes he had made as a teen? Would he ever be able to go a month, two, three, without having his past rear up and wag its tongue at him?

"The basics. Gladstone, Williamson, and an MLE lawyer named Olivia Shakeshaft conspired to kill two families and succeeded in killing one Muggle and an Auror, while grievously injuring an Auror and two civilians, and minorly injuring four children, three of them Muggles. They used Unforgivables and illegally Traced Wizards. Kingsley wants me to give them a brief outline, take a few questions and cut it short. The trials will be public, so the press can act like vultures then." Harry took a long drink from the beer in his hand. "The evidence is strong enough that Williamson and Shakeshaft will spend the rest of their hopefully very long and miserable lives in Azkaban, even though the current Chief Mugwump has to recuse himself due to being confunded by Shakeshaft into signing those approvals for Traces."

"Too bad there aren't Dementors there still." Draco quipped.

Dudley shuddered. His run-in with Dementors would always be fresh in his mind, no matter how much he wished it could be otherwise. He couldn't wish them on the two conspirators who would be gracing Azkaban with their presence for the rest of their lives. He met Harry's eyes and nodded. He knew Harry agreed with him. He stood and put his beer down. "You two, follow me." He left the room without looking back and headed toward the kitchen.

Draco and Harry glanced at each other and shrugged, standing and following him. When Harry followed Draco into the kitchen, there were three glasses on the table and Dudley was pouring firewhiskey in them. Dudley handed two glasses to Draco and Harry and picked up one himself. Draco spoke first, "Here's to Tammy. May she rest with the angels."

Dudley and Harry nodded. "And to your father, Dudley. He never asked to be caught up in this and didn't deserve to be killed," Harry added.

"Here's to Mrs. Gladstone." Dudley smiled and tilted his head at the raised eyebrows of the men he stood next to. "She lost so much in the war that it poisoned her. Hopefully, she'll find her family again in whatever afterlife she believed in and find the peace she needed."

Harry and Draco looked at each other and nodded. None of the three men standing at the simple kitchen table had gotten out of the war without scars, either mental or physical. Those scars would never go away completely. Harry would always have a lightning bolt emblazoned on his forehead. Draco would always wear long sleeves to cover a mark that would never disappear. Dudley would always be on the lookout for bullying in his school to make amends for his treatment of his cousin as a child.

Dudley Dursley, Draco Malfoy, and Harry Potter were the last people in the world to be expected to share a toast, but that was just proof of how profoundly life could change a person. As they clinked their glasses and drank in memory of the three people named they also drank to the memories of all those lost in a war that came to an end over fifteen years before and those that were still feeling the effects even now. But even as they drank to the memories of people lost they couldn't help but think of those still in their lives and those who would find their world a better place because of the sacrifices made by those lost and even those who had hurt others because of their strong beliefs. For without one, the other would not have the chance to rise up and make the world a better place.

Last chapter and the story is finished. I hope everyone liked it and I hope it managed to turn out well given its disorganized beginning. I also apologize that it took me so long to write it. It was this ending that hung me up.